Re: What bourbon did you purchase today? Winter/Spring '07

Here are the bottles that I mentioned earlier. They came on Monday. If you look closely most of them are open already. I still have some of the Evan Williams 15 open. The Blanton's Straight from the Barrel is open so I haven't had pressing need of the Blanton's Silver, but I need to give it a test run so it will be opened tonight. The VWFR Rye 13 is looking mighty good...

In the earlier post I said something about Mitchner Rye (sp?) but I was mistaken. It is Hirsch Sekection 13 year old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey. Pretty good stuff. I am looking forward to doing a head to head with the VWFRR 13. I'm sure I prefer the later, but won't know for sure until I open it.

I cracked the VWFRR 13 before I read your post and thought, "Yep, this is better than the Hirsch. Darker caramel/brown sugar. Subtle spice that is none the less up front and accessible. I don't really need to do a side by side, but I will anyway."

Then I read your post and the link to Julian's comments. I poured some of my Hirsch Select. "Nope, while this is excellent it just isn't as good as the VWFRR 13." I went' back and forth between the two. The Hirsch was 'thinner' not as sweet, the caramel was there but not as deep. It just wasn't as good, wonderful, but not as good.

But what if I was 'tasting' the label? What if I was 'tasting' the opinions of all the posts here that say that Van Winkle whiskey is the best there is? What if I was being fooled by 'marketing?'

I had to do a blind side by side. I had my daughter pour a small taste into two identical glasses, don't worry, she is a bartender, not a minor. The glasses were marked A and B. I took a sip of glass B. Absolutely, VWFRR. Glass A, yep, Hirsch. Repeat. Not quite as sure, but yes, that is what they are. Clear the palate with room temp water. B, VWFRR. Rinse. A, Hirsch. No doubt about it now so I looked at the paper she had written the answers on. A=Hirsch, B=VWFRR.

Re: What bourbon did you purchase today? Winter/Spring '07

Ed......What you are detecting is the fact that there have been about 7 or 8 different bottlings of the VWFRR 13yo and only a couple of the Hirsch. To do a proper comparison, you would need to find a bottle of the VWFRR that corresponds to the time of the Hirsch bottling. As the rye whiskey aged in barrel, its flavor evolved until Julian finally tanked the remainder of it. So an "A" bottling tastes different than a "D" bottling of the VWFRR due to additional ageing in the barrel (I don't recall exactly when he tanked this rye to stop the ageing). Julian has now added another straight rye to the tank so the current VWFRR is a slightly different animal altogether.

If your bottling is a "D" or later, it would likely taste noticeably different than any Hirsch 13yo rye bottling. If its the current bottling, it might be completely different.

Re: What bourbon did you purchase today? Winter/Spring '07

Originally Posted by doubleblank

Ed......What you are detecting is the fact that there have been about 7 or 8 different bottlings of the VWFRR 13yo and only a couple of the Hirsch. To do a proper comparison, you would need to find a bottle of the VWFRR that corresponds to the time of the Hirsch bottling. As the rye whiskey aged in barrel, its flavor evolved until Julian finally tanked the remainder of it. So an "A" bottling tastes different than a "D" bottling of the VWFRR due to additional ageing in the barrel (I don't recall exactly when he tanked this rye to stop the ageing). Julian has now added another straight rye to the tank so the current VWFRR is a slightly different animal altogether.

If your bottling is a "D" or later, it would likely taste noticeably different than any Hirsch 13yo rye bottling. If its the current bottling, it might be completely different.

Randy

Hi Randy,

I knew that there were multiple bottlings of the VWFRR 13. Both my previous bottle and this bottle lack a letter. All they have is a letter. Here is a picture of both lables.

So, what does this mean? Are these bottles from before Julian started using letters to lable different batches or are these the current bottling or what. All I know for sure is that this is some of the best whiskey I have ever tasted.

Re: What bourbon did you purchase today? Winter/Spring '07

Those are older bottlings Ed......probably when the rye was actually 13yo. The later ones got a number and a letter in front of it. I'd guess your VWFRR and the Hirsch were bottled within a few years of each other.

Re: What bourbon did you purchase today? Winter/Spring '07

Something I haven't seen here in NYC yet, Rittenhouse Rye BIB 100 proof, which has a nice color to it. I think I'll make some Manhattans out of it.
Something I've read about here, the Forty Creek Barrel Select Canadian Whiskey.
...And, Something I've had plenty of but can never seem to resist picking up ORVW 10yr 107 for only $26.00! Some fine drink'n lies ahead methinks! Tom V

Re: What bourbon did you purchase today? Winter/Spring '07

Originally Posted by doubleblank

Those are older bottlings Ed......probably when the rye was actually 13yo. The later ones got a number and a letter in front of it. I'd guess your VWFRR and the Hirsch were bottled within a few years of each other.

Randy

Thanks Randy,

That is what I thought. I think I can taste that my Hircsh and my VWFRR are both the same whiskey at different ages. I am not sure which is younger, but I sure know which one I like better! I am only a couple of pours into the VWFRR and already I am starting to morn the day it is empty. I think I will be drinking the Hirsch to save the VWFRR.